Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026
Corneal Donor Tissue Preparation for Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty
Published on: September 17, 2014
Corneal higher-order aberrations after Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty
Orkun Muftuoglu1, Pawan Prasher, R Wayne Bowman
1University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Dallas, Texas 75390-9057, USA.
Purpose:
To compare the corneal higher-order aberration (HOA) after Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) and penetrating keratoplasty (PKP), and in age-matched controls.
Design:
Cross-sectional, non-comparative interventional case series.
Participants:
Thirty-one eyes of 28 patients who underwent DSAEK, 20 eyes of 16 patients who underwent PKP, and 31 eyes of 31 control patients.
Intervention:
The corneal topography and HOAs of the central 4- and 6-mm zones from anterior and posterior corneal surfaces were evaluated postoperatively with the Scheimpflug rotating imaging system (Oculus Gmbh, Wetzlar, Germany).
Main Outcome Measures:
Anterior and posterior corneal HOAs.
Results:
The mean anterior corneal total HOAs of the central 4 and 6 mm were 0.599+/-0.288 microm and 1.215+/-0.496 microm, respectively, in eyes that underwent DSAEK; 1.730+/-0.826 microm and 3.349+/-1.490 microm, respectively, in eyes that underwent PKP; and 0.439+/-0.163 microm and 0.921+/-0.300 microm, respectively, in controls. Although the mean anterior corneal total HOAs of the central 4 and 6 mm were significantly higher in eyes that underwent PKP than in eyes that underwent DSAEK and in controls (P<0.01), there was no significant difference in anterior corneal total HOAs of the central 4 and 6 mm between eyes that underwent DSAEK and controls. The mean posterior corneal total HOAs of the central 4 and 6 mm were 3.680+/-1.586 microm and 7.142+/-3.011 microm, respectively, in eyes that underwent DSAEK; 2.957+/-1.238 microm and 5.314+/-2.095 microm, respectively, in eyes that underwent PKP; and 0.818+/-0.193 microm and 1.609+/-0.344 microm, respectively, in controls. Although there was no significant difference in posterior corneal total HOAs of the central 4 mm between the DSAEK group and the PKP group, the posterior corneal HOAs of the central 6 mm were significantly higher in the DSAEK group than in the PKP group (P<0.01).
Conclusions:
Although posterior corneal HOAs are significantly higher in eyes that underwent DSAEK, anterior corneal HOAs are not significantly different in eyes that underwent DSAEK than those of age-matched controls.
